Author Judith Enck argues it is not too late to reduce the use of plastic, which has surged in the last twenty years

Author Judith Enck argues it is not too late to reduce the use of plastic, which has surged in the last twenty years

 Adnan Beci

If there's one material that defines modern life more than any other, it's plastic: present from the moment we're born in newborn stool, in product packaging, in the soil beneath our feet and the air we breathe.

Hard as it is to imagine, it wasn't always thus -- and doesn't have to remain this way, argues Judith Enck in her new book, "The Problem with Plastics."

Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.